The FY27 programme introduces referral rewards, renewal and expansion incentives, and greater support for partner-led services, with a focus on enterprise AI, hybrid cloud and modern application environments.
Nutanix is expanding its FY27 Elevate Partner Program to include systems integrators (SIs), while introducing new incentives designed to help partners generate revenue across the customer lifecycle. The changes represent the company’s largest investment in the programme to date and aim to reward partners not only for technology sales but also for referrals, customer expansion, renewals and services delivery.
The expanded programme reflects the growing role of systems integrators and consulting partners in enterprise technology decisions. These partners often influence IT strategy, design solutions, manage migrations and prepare organisations for emerging technologies well before a purchase is finalised. Eligible SIs and consulting partners can now earn referral rewards for qualifying opportunities they identify and develop, even when another partner completes the sale.
The programme offers benefits across seven areas: landing new customers, expanding existing deployments, rewarding business growth, incentivising partner sales and technical teams, retaining customers through renewals, referring new opportunities and differentiating services capabilities.
Additional incentives target opportunities involving Nutanix Enterprise AI, Nutanix Database Service and Nutanix Kubernetes Platform, aligning partner earnings with growing demand for enterprise AI, cloud-native applications and modern database environments. All rebates, rewards and funding remain subject to programme eligibility, requirements and regional availability.
Nutanix is also strengthening its support for partner-led services through Powered by Nutanix: Verified Services. Eligible partners can build recognised capabilities in migration, deployment and ongoing customer support, supported by standardised Service Delivery Kits and opportunities to work alongside Nutanix experts. Qualifying partners may also access earned business development funds for go-to-market activities.
“Partners should be able to earn money for bringing us new business, helping existing customers do more with Nutanix and providing the services those customers need.”
— Sven Schoenaerts, Vice President EMEA, Channel and Technology Alliances, Nutanix
Sven Schoenaerts, Vice President EMEA, Channel and Technology Alliances at Nutanix, said the changes address a longstanding gap in partner economics, where systems integrators and consultants often contribute substantial work to developing opportunities without directly benefiting from the eventual sale.
The company is also positioning its hybrid cloud portfolio as an opportunity for partners to help customers manage infrastructure constraints and technology transitions. Support for selected external-storage configurations, including applicable Dell, Everpure and NetApp technologies, gives partners options to modernise environments while retaining existing infrastructure investments. Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) offers another route, enabling supported workloads to run and move between on-premises infrastructure and supported public clouds.
Further planned enhancements include AI-powered tools to support partner engagement. Deal Coach, expected through Nutanix Partner Central later this fiscal year, is designed to assist sales-cycle activities. Nutanix also plans to provide approved visibility into selected customer-environment health, adoption and lifecycle signals, subject to customer authorisation, helping partners identify opportunities and plan renewals.
Shaista Ahmed, Director, Channel & Ecosystem – Middle East & Africa at Nutanix, said the expansion is intended to help regional partners convert their expertise into business growth as organisations modernise IT, adopt hybrid cloud and prepare for enterprise AI.
The broader shift is towards a partner model that recognises value throughout the customer journey from influencing technology decisions and identifying opportunities to implementation, expansion and long-term support. Nutanix’s expanded Elevate programme seeks to make those contributions more directly rewarding.
